🇲🇽 Visa Residencia Temporal - Approved! Consulado de México Denver - 08.05.2026
I was approved for a Temporary Residence Visa for Mexico today… it’s been in the works for about a year… and the planets aligned… and I managed to pull all my documents together and get an appointment at the Mexican Consulate in Denver. And here we go…
From the time I walked in the door to the time I walked out with my Visa in hand was about an hour and a half. The agent was quite gracias… and despite my efforts of double bubble checking that I had all that I need… I misplaced one paper… and luckily, they allowed me to make a copy (for $10U.S.) on site to complete the process. A few questions… a little Spanish… some English… fingerprints, foto, smiles, pay, go wait in the hall…
It’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster this last year with my relationship with Mexico, and my Mexico life, and the Mexican people… and I don’t know my future plans at this point… and I still need to go into Mexico to finalize it with INM (immigration)… but I found it necessary to continue going through the motions, mostly for my own mental boost, and when the agent came out smiling, showed me the visa, in a very crowded waiting room, I felt joy… and pride… and emotion… it’s been a journey and a half… and ¡órale!
Because I know there is a certain someone that is going to troll this post and piss on my parade… here’s what a “visa residencia temporal” is and is not;
- It is NOT mexican citizenship
- it is not equal to an American green card (it doesn’t allow you to work in country)
- it gives you a CURP; a national ID number (like a Social Security Number) which allows you to have a MX bank account, buy a car or moto and register them, have ease with rentals and utilities.
- extended stays over 180 days, up to 4 years.
- public healthcare access
- senior discounts (60 plus… you can get an INAPAM card for 10% to 50% off transit, medical care)
- no foreign tourist tax (especially when flying nationally)
- you are part of the population and not considered an “extraño” which means you pay museum fees and such as a national. There is a price difference.
- after 4 continuous years of “temporary status” you can covert directly to “permanent residence”
And that’s that… I have stacks of travel documents… I still have to carry my old passport just for my 10 year Bolivian Visa with my yellow-fever vax paper.
I’m in Denver mainly for a string of medical appointments. But with much reflecting… I went from my life being rudely interrupted by health issues and it just getting in the way of my good times… to my health issues becoming my life… and that sucks… and that needed to change posthaste. I’m proceeding forward, in small steps, to an unknown future, enriching my existence with experiences… new experiences… and that opens my eyes in the morning… in a way that I look forward to what the day, what the universe holds for me. Happiness is a choice.
